30,064 research outputs found
An experimental approach to quantify strain transfer efficiency of fibre bragg grating sensors to host structures
This paper developed a method to evaluate the strain transfer efficiency of
fibre Bragg grating sensors to host structures. Various coatings were applied to
fibre Bragg grating sensors after being fabricated. They were epoxy, silane
agent and polypropylene, representing different surface properties. A neat epoxy
resin plate was used as the host in which the coated fibre sensors were embedded
in the central layer. The tensile strain output from the FBGs was compared with
that obtained from electrical strain gauges which were attached on the surface
of the specimen. A calculating method based on the measured strains was
developed to quantify the strain transfer function of different surface
coatings. The strain transfer coefficient obtained from the proposed method
provided a direct indicator to evaluate the strain transfer efficiency of
different coatings used on the FBG sensors, under either short or long-term
loading. The results demonstrated that the fibre sensor without any coating
possessed the best strain transfer, whereas, the worst strain transfer was
created by polypropylene coating. Coatings play a most influential role in
strain measurements using FBG sensors
50 years of British accent bias
Do accent biases observed half a century ago (Giles 1970) and 15 years ago (Coupland & Bishop 2007) still hold today in Britain? We provide an updated picture of national attitudes to accent labels by replicating and extending previous studies. Mean ratings and relative rankings of 38 accents for prestige and pleasantness by a large representative sample of the British population (N = 821) attest to a remarkably stable, long-standing hierarchy of accent status. We find little evidence of demotion of conservative prestige varieties or reranking of accents, although we do observe a slight improvement in lower rankings. We focus in detail on age and life stage, finding that most of the age patterns observed in earlier studies were in fact instances of age-grading (lifespan effects), not real-time change in attitude. The midlife phase of life corresponds to conservative shifts in the perception of global, migrant-heritage, and stigmatised varieties. Our findings add change in speech evaluation to the growing body of research on lifespan change in speech production. Finally, although effects of ethnicity, social class, regional self- and other-bias, and age remain firmly in place, earlier gender differences in respondent behaviour have more or less disappeared
Realizing Hopf Insulators in Dipolar Spin Systems
The Hopf insulator represents a topological state of matter that exists
outside the conventional ten-fold way classification of topological insulators.
Its topology is protected by a linking number invariant, which arises from the
unique topology of knots in three dimensions. We predict that three-dimensional
arrays of driven, dipolar-interacting spins are a natural platform to
experimentally realize the Hopf insulator. In particular, we demonstrate that
certain terms within the dipolar interaction elegantly generate the requisite
non-trivial topology, and that Floquet engineering can be used to optimize
dipolar Hopf insulators with large gaps. Moreover, we show that the Hopf
insulator's unconventional topology gives rise to a rich spectrum of edge mode
behaviors, which can be directly probed in experiments. Finally, we present a
detailed blueprint for realizing the Hopf insulator in lattice-trapped
ultracold dipolar molecules; focusing on the example of KRb, we
provide quantitative evidence for near-term experimental feasibility.Comment: 6 + 7 pages, 3 figure
A potential mechanism for targeting aggregates with proteasomes and disaggregases in liquid droplets
Insoluble protein deposits are hallmarks of neurodegenerative disorders and common forms of dementia. The aberrant aggregation of misfolded proteins involves a complex cascade of events that occur over time, from the cellular to the clinical phase of neurodegeneration. Declining neuronal health through increased cell stress and loss of protein homeostasis (proteostasis) functions correlate with the accumulation of aggregates. On the cellular level, increasing evidence supports that misfolded proteins may undergo liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS), which is emerging as an important process to drive protein aggregation. Studying the reverse process of aggregate disassembly and degradation has only recently gained momentum, following reports of enzymes with distinct aggregate-disassembly activities. In this review, we will discuss how the ubiquitin-proteasome system and disaggregation machineries such as VCP/p97 and HSP70 system may disassemble and/or degrade protein aggregates. In addition to their canonically associated functions, these enzymes appear to share a common feature: reversibly assembling into liquid droplets in an LLPS-driven manner. We review the role of LLPS in enhancing the disassembly of aggregates through locally increasing the concentration of these enzymes and their co-proteins together within droplet structures. We propose that such activity may be achieved through the concerted actions of disaggregase machineries, the ubiquitin-proteasome system and their co-proteins, all of which are condensed within transient aggregate-associated droplets (TAADs), ultimately resulting in aggregate clearance. We further speculate that sustained engagement of these enzymatic activities within TAADs will be detrimental to normal cellular functions, where these activities are required. The possibility of facilitating endogenous disaggregation and degradation activities within TAADs potentially represents a novel target for therapeutic intervention to restore protein homeostasis at the early stages of neurodegeneration
50 years of British accent bias: Stability and lifespan change in attitudes to accents
Do accent biases observed half a century ago (Giles 1970) and 15 years ago (Coupland and Bishop 2007) still hold in Britain today? We provide an updated picture of national attitudes to accent labels by replicating and extending previous studies. Mean ratings and relative rankings of 38 accents for prestige and pleasantness by a large representative sample of the British population (N = 821) attest to a remarkably stable, long-standing hierarchy of accent status. We find little evidence of demotion of conservative prestige varieties or reranking of accents, although we do observe a slight improvement in lower rankings. We focus in detail on age and life stage, finding that most of the age patterns observed in earlier studies were in fact instances of age-grading (lifespan effects), not real-time change in attitude. The midlife phase of life corresponds to conservative shifts in the perception of global, migrant-heritage, and stigmatised varieties. Our findings add change in speech evaluation to the growing body of research on lifespan change in speech production. Finally, although effects of ethnicity, social class, regional self- and other-bias, and age remain firmly in place, earlier gender differences in respondent behaviour have more or less disappeared
Surface Scattering via Bulk Continuum States in the 3D Topological Insulator BiSe
We have performed scanning tunneling microscopy and differential tunneling
conductance () mapping for the surface of the three dimensional
topological insulator BiSe. The fast Fourier transformation applied
to the image shows an electron interference pattern near Dirac node
despite the general belief that the backscattering is well suppressed in the
bulk energy gap region. The comparison of the present experimental result with
theoretical surface and bulk band structures shows that the electron
interference occurs through the scattering between the surface states near the
Dirac node and the bulk continuum states.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Structural phase transition and dielectric relaxation in Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3 single crystals
The structure and the dielectric properties of Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3 (PZN) crystal
have been investigated by means of high-resolution synchrotron x-ray
diffraction (with an x-ray energy of 32 keV) and dielectric spectroscopy (in
the frequency range of 100 Hz - 1 MHz). At high temperatures, the PZN crystal
exhibits a cubic symmetry and polar nanoregions inherent to relaxor
ferroelectrics are present, as evidenced by the single (222) Bragg peak and by
the noticeable tails at the basis of the peak. At low temperatures, in addition
to the well-known rhombohedral phase, another low-symmetry, probably
ferroelectric, phase is found. The two phases coexist in the form of mesoscopic
domains. The para- to ferroelectric phase transition is diffused and observed
between 325 and 390 K, where the concentration of the low-temperature phases
gradually increases and the cubic phase disappears upon cooling. However, no
dielectric anomalies can be detected in the temperature range of diffuse phase
transition. The temperature dependence of the dielectric constant show the
maximum at higher temperature (Tm = 417 - 429 K, depending on frequency) with
the typical relaxor dispersion at T < Tm and the frequency dependence of Tm
fitted to the Vogel-Fulcher relation. Application of an electric field upon
cooling from the cubic phase or poling the crystal in the ferroelectric phase
gives rise to a sharp anomaly of the dielectric constant at T 390 K and
diminishes greatly the dispersion at lower temperatures, but the dielectric
relaxation process around Tm remains qualitatively unchanged. The results are
discussed in the framework of the present models of relaxors and in comparison
with the prototypical relaxor ferroelectric Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3.Comment: PDF file, 13 pages, 6 figures collected on pp.12-1
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